System: "Host. This is Earth in the 1970s—a period long before humanity reached civilization level two. You've probably read about this era in the Interstellar Empire's history books. Thousands of years ago, the Interstellar Empire was nothing more than a class one civilization confined to a small, underdeveloped planet called Earth. It was hidden in a quiet corner of the universe, inside a galaxy known as the Milky Way.
Despite their humble beginnings, the humans of this planet showed incredible creativity and determination. Over time, they made huge leaps in science and technology. In just three thousand years, they evolved from a primitive society into a class three civilization capable of communicating across galaxies.
But that's all in the future. Right now, you're in the 1970s. This decade is very backward, even by Earth's own standards. There are no holograms, no interstellar travel, and no neural networks. Computers are large and slow, most people don't have access to advanced medicine, and daily life is much simpler—and harder—than what you're used to.
You'll need to adjust to this low-tech environment. No advanced tools, no AI assistance, and certainly no spaceports. Stay calm, observe carefully, and try to blend in. Your mission depends on it."
Now, that you know about the world you are in, host, let's take a look at your identity as well.
This is a changing business world. In 1975, Chairman Li Wenhua, the powerful founder of Li Group, died suddenly in a car accident. His son, Li Mingxuan, only 22 years old, was left to carry the weight of the company.
By 1980, Li Mingxuan had rebuilt the fractured board, expanded Li Group into overseas markets, and became the youngest CEO to control one of the largest corporations in the country.
Host, you play the role of Ji Yu, the wife of Li Mingxuan from the countryside. Ji Yu's father and Li Mingxuan's mother were cousins. Before making a fortune in the stock market exchange, Li Wenhua and the Li family were just small shop owners in a countryside village. The Ji family were also just a family of scholars, nothing special.
Anyway, at the time, with Li Wenhua and his wife's consent, Ji Yu's father arranged a marriage for Ji Yu and Li Mingxuan. When Li Mingxuan became an adult, he married Ji Yu in the village. Li Mingxuan was very resistant to the marriage and thus, he didn't even wait for the wedding night before he went away right after the wedding to the capital city with the dowry money in pursuit of higher studies.
He was a smart person and he got admitted into a well-known university with a full scholarship. Men at this time were highly regarded if they could get into universities, which meant that their future was extremely bright. That's why, even though he went away to the capital city in the name of his university right after the wedding, the Ji family didn't say anything. They only felt that they might have made a fortune by marrying Ji Yu to him in his early days, before he rose to become a dragon in the future.
Then, he never came back to the village again. Later, in 1970, Li Wenhua made a huge fortune in a stock market boom and the Li family also moved to the capital city, and thus began the rise of the Li family.
Ji Yu was a traditional woman, forced by her family into a marriage she had no say in, then forced to wait for a husband who never came back. Finally, after years of Li Mingxuan not coming back, Ji Yu's father became anxious, and when he heard of the Li family's sudden fortune and rise, he immediately made preparations to send Ji Yu to the capital city. He couldn't let go of the now wealthy Li family! His daughter was his ticket to getting the Ji family out of poverty.
Thus, in 1976, Ji Yu, a woman who knew nothing about the world, with just a few dollars on her, came to the capital city through a long-route train, enduring a harsh journey to demand answers from Li Mingxuan, her legally married husband.
Ji Yu listened with great interest to the story of her own life. To her, it sounded like a tale about a very miserable little girl, a character she was now supposed to become. She felt a strange pang in her heart, a mix of pity and anger for the woman whose body and life she now inhabited.
She asked the system quietly, her voice barely a whisper in her mind, "Tell me, what happens after today in the original plot?"
The system's response was a soft, almost sad, sigh. "Oh, host... The identity you bear is just a cannon fodder in the story. Your life and death don't make a splash in anyone's life. They won't even cause a ripple." It paused, its tone growing heavier. "In fact, the life of most common women before the 2000s was like this—miserable and seen as worthless by the world."
The system continued, painting a bleak picture. "Anyway, when the original Ji Yu went to meet Li Mingxuan in the original plot, she was treated with cold indifference right from the start. Li Mingxuan didn't give her one bit of respect. He completely looked down on her, seeing only a simple, uneducated country girl covered in the dust of a poor village, a reminder of a past he desperately wanted to forget."
"But that wasn't the worst of it," the system went on. "Ji Yu also found, to her absolute shock, that Li Mingxuan already had a crush on another woman—the female lead of this story. He was in love with her. So, the moment his country wife showed up at his door, he immediately proposed divorce. He was even prepared. He took out a piece of divorce paper with his signature already on it, just waiting for hers. It seemed he was always prepared to divorce her the moment she finally came looking for him."
"He promised to give her some money and a train ticket back to her home village. But in this time, host, women who were divorced were seen as even lower than an animal. Their reputation was completely ruined, and they had no future. Ji Yu knew this. She knew that if she returned to her village with a divorced status, not only would the whole village shun her and call her names, but even her own family would reject her. Her greedy father, the one who sent her here, would likely beat her to death out of anger for losing their wealthy connection."
"She was just a country woman with no knowledge or power whatsoever. She tried saying no, her voice weak and pleading. But Li Mingxuan, now the powerful heir to the wealthy Li family, had many means to threaten her. He could make her life even more difficult. The original Ji Yu was no match for a person like him. She became afraid with just a little bit of threatening. With tears streaming down her face and her hand shaking, she finally signed the divorce papers. Li Mingxuan only looked at her with pure disgust. After the divorce was finalized, he coldly gave her a hundred dollars and a train ticket and asked her to get out."
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Thanks for reading.
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